


pending time

by Skyuni123



Series: pacific rim uprising was pretty gay y'all [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14102697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: Nate and Jake, two emotionally-stunted eggs dancing around their feelings for each other.





	1. Chapter 1

Nate Lambert knows bravery when he sees it. He also knows idiocy. After so long in the PPDC, he’s seen his fair share of both.

Jake seems to live right in the middle (though he does dip into the ‘idiot’ category more often than not.)

Nate supposes it’s endearing. 

When that idiocy leads to him saving the whole damn world, yeah, it’s pretty damn endearing after all. 

  
  


Nate’s dozing in his hospital bed two days after the whole ‘cancelling the apocalypse’ thing. Everything still hurts. He’s not exactly sure where he was injured, but if he had to make a guess he’s say ‘everywhere’. 

 

He supposes that he’s lucky that he’s alive at all, though.

 

He would grab his laptop or phone or something and actually do some work, but the lure of the comfortable bed and his current inability to sit all the way up stops him. The world’s not going to end if he goes back to sleep, right?

All this culminates to mean that he’s actually kinda awake when someone creeps into his hospital room.

 

He cracks open one eye, sees Jake honest-to-god  _ creeping  _ in, placing a box of something down on the table next to him and then heading for the door.

 

“Making a strategic retreat, there, Ranger?” His throat is dry, voice cracking from underuse, but he knows Jake hears it.

 

“You’re awake.” Jake spins around, claps his hands together, and smiles.

It’s the worst example of anyone feigning nonchalance that he’s ever seen. 

 

“Yeah, I am.” Nate goes to sit up, decides heavily against that idea and slumps back. “What’s in the box, Jakey?”

 

“Don’t call me Jakey, man.” Jake shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “And it’s beer… for your convalescence.”

 

“Convalescence? You’ve been spending too much time with Gottlieb. You got me beer? Nice of you.” And to his surprise, it’s actually good beer. It’s a brand of beer that he’s not seen for  _ at least  _ ten years. The enormity of the gift whooshes out of him with a shocked gasp. “Summit Citrus? Where the hell’d you find this?”

 

“I have my contacts.” Jake plops down into the chair next to the bed and draws his legs up onto the seat. “It’s not a big deal.”

 

“Kinda is though, Jakey.”

 

Jake shrugs. “Nah it’s not. I’m not sure how old that box is, though, so if you die after drinking it it didn’t come from me.”

 

“God, you’re such a romantic.” And he’s pretty sure that that was a step too far because Jake slides off his chair and goes to leave.

 

“Jake, come back. I’m very thankful for the gift that I’ll drink once I’m off all ten-thousand of my medications, but as I know that you think caring for people is embarrassing or something, I’ll stop talking about it. We good?”

 

Jake stops and sits back down. “You are  _ so  _ lucky I don’t hate you.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” The disparaging look Jake gives him brings a flutter to his stomach, just a little, and it’s disgusting because he’s in his  _ thirties.  _ This shouldn’t still be happening. “Speaking of Gottlieb, how’s Gieszler?” 

 

“Still going on about the Precursors. They’re making some sorta programme to fix his head though.”

 

“How’s Hermann taking it?”

 

“Not great.” Jake shoots him a look that’s almost like a challenge. “Because they’re madly in love. Even though they’ve not told each other. For twenty years.”

 

Hell, that’d been obvious even during the war. “Madly in love? Sounds like you and I, Jakey.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, piss off.” Jake stands up again, and heads for the door. “Never going to happen, man.” 

 

“Are you sure about that?” Nate yells, as Jake opens the door and slips outside. He’s being a dick now, he knows that, but hey, he’s  _ alive.  _ He’s surely allowed that luxury.

 

Jake sticks his head back in and flips him the bird. 

 

“Being attracted to my “handsome and sexy” body isn’t a crime, Jake!” He yells that sentence so loud that he’s pretty sure half of the Shatterdome can hear it.

 

He supposes the worst thing about all of this teasing is that it’s not just teasing.

They rode the Drift together. They both know how they feel, even after ten years apart. He doubts they’re ever going to do anything about it, though. Some things just can’t happen.

-

 

It takes him a month to get him back to a point where he can run without pain spearing through his chest. 30 days of dancing around Jake, of training the kids, of rebuilding.

It’s good when he can finally go for a jog around the Shatterdome without actually wanting to die at the same time.

Makes a nice change. 

 

Amara jogs up next to him on his second lap around the dome. He slows down to a pace more suited to her shorter legs. 

 

“Smalley!” Jake’s nickname had somehow stuck. Like many parts of him, Jake’s presence seems to … grow on… people. 

 

“Nate.” She pants, still struggling to catch up. 

 

He slows even further. “What’re you doing out here?”

 

“Vik reckons I should train more.” She rolls her eyes, “How’s Jake?”

 

“Why are you asking me that?”

 

“I might be younger than most of you, but I still have eyes,  _ Nathaniel.”  _

 

Honestly, if he was a stronger man, the use of his full name by a lower-ranked officer would be grounds for a dismissal. However, he likes Amara, and he’s not a complete dick. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

She rolls her eyes and slows to a halt. “Yeah, Nate, I totally didn’t drift with Jake or anything and learn all of his secrets. I’m not blind. Come on.”

 

He cannot be talking about this with a girl fourteen years his junior. Does the PPDC still do free counselling? He needs a sympathetic ear that wasn’t born during the ‘10s. He stops, turns to her. “You know the military isn’t… uh… super great with this sort of thing.”

 

“Yeah, like 20 years ago.” Amara huffs, and pouts. It’s not very endearing. “You could be eaten by a Kaiju at any moment, Nathaniel. Don’t waste time.”

 

Well that’s just blatantly untrue. “The Breach is closed, remember?”

 

She shrugs. “Yeah, for now. Don’t miss your chance. I nearly did.”

 

_ Oh.  _ That’s a change. He hadn’t been seeing things after all? “You… and Vik, I take it?”

 

She looks a bit embarrassed. “Apparently so.”

 

He wouldn’t have guessed it, considering how much the y were fighting at the beginning of their training, but it makes sense. “Congratulations.” At least he won’t have to deal with the pair of them trying to kill each other all the time any more. 

 

“Thanks.” She punches him in the shoulder. “Alright. Emotional time over. Go make out with Jake.” 

 

And with that, she jogs away without a backwards glance.

 

This is exactly why he didn’t want to train a bunch of teenagers. All of them think that life is exactly like a romcom. Honestly. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, the resolution!

He finds Jake binging on ice cream in the shared kitchen at 1.30 in the morning. He’s lounging, almost like a really cheesy Greek god, on one of the couches. To add insult to injury, he’s also wearing a  _ robe.  _

 

Nate, who frequently eats kale and also goes to bed at 8.30pm most nights, is going to have to approach this carefully. How does Jake survive the rigours of the PPDC when his diet is so terrible? 

 

Jake narrows his eyes at him when he comes in. “If you’re here to take this ice cream, I’m going to have to fight you for it.”

 

“I’m lactose intolerant, but I’ll still fight you?” Nate offers, as casually as he can muster, and flops down on the couch opposite. He’s not  _ technically  _ lactose intolerant, it just makes him feel a bit weird. It’s probably an age thing. He’s not had time to get it checked out because of the  _ literal war  _ going on.

 

“I’m good.” Jake replies, and goes back to eating. 

 

There’s sprinkles and chocolate sauce too. Where on earth does the man put it all? 

 

Nate’s tired, he’s absolutely done with tiptoeing around this mess, and at this point, he just wants to  _ know.  _ He bites the bullet and goes for it. “Do you want to have sex with me, Jakey?” It’s easily one of the scariest things he’s ever done, and he’s been fighting giant alien monsters for most of his life.

 

Jake chokes on a mouthful of ice cream. He takes a second, breathes through it, and points his spoon at Nate. “That’s a bit gay, man. Just saying.”

 

“You’ve literally slept with men. I’ve seen inside your head. Don’t avoid the question.”

 

“Yeah, but that was in uni. Everyone’s messed around in uni.” Jake drops the spoon and continues to shovel far too much ice cream into his mouth. 

 

It reads like a coping mechanism. 

 

“Was Nick just a uni thing too?” It’s incredibly bitchy to bring up things from the Drift, but Nate can’t seem to help it. He and Jake would be good together. He needs to know  _ why  _ they’ve been skirting around each other for so long.

 

“Dick move, mate.” Jake grunts, and puts the ice cream aside. He stands up, leans over him. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pull receipts from my past just because you want to get off.”

 

“Get off?!” And he’s suddenly standing, almost chest to chest, spitting the words in Jake’s face. “Years ago we were closer than family. One of the strongest teams out there. You think I’d only want one night with you?” 

 

Something in Jake’s face softens, almost imperceptibly. If they didn’t know each other so well, hadn’t spent so long in each other’s company, hadn’t literally been inside each other’s minds, maybe he would have missed it. Hesitantly, he asks, “...you… don’t?”

 

“Sex is really cool, man, gotta say, I’m not opposed at all, but I’ve literally not sleep a full night through since you left.” It’s embarrassing to say, but it’s true. Years of living in bunks, being completely inseparable… it does things to a man. “I know that sounds like a shitty case of Drift-bleed, but it’s true.”

 

They’re standing so close that he can feel Jake’s breath on his face. It’s very warm and smells a lot like horribly-processed sweet foods. He’s actually… kinda into it. 

 

The other man rolls his eyes. “For a Ranger you’re really romantic.” 

 

“We’ve lived through two wars, Jakey. No toxic masculinity here. Gotta keep people on their toes.” Nate jiggles about on his feet for a moment just to punctuate how changeable he really is. 

 

On second thoughts, he probably should have left this conversation till the morning.

 

“You’re such a knob.” Jake sighs, apparently resigned to whatever he’s about to do. “You better be good.”

 

_ Better be good? _

 

He really doesn’t have time to process the meaning of the words before Jake is kissing him.

 

And yeah, it’s  _ good. _

 

Jake’s always been a bit of a slut, even when they were both actively fighting Kaiju every few days, and it’s not surprising that he kisses like he fights. 

 

Hard, punishing, impulsive… 

 

It heats Nate up right down to his toes, and he’s really fucking  _ into it.  _ It’s goddamn hot. It’s nearly ten years worth of dancing around each other, of Drifting, of so many moments together, and he’s aching within seconds.

 

He’s so into the press of their bodies together, that he hardly notices when Jake bears him back onto the couch below.

 

Oh, are they doing this?

 

Here?

 

Well, that’s unexpected.

 

He pulls away enough just to say, “the kids will get the shock of their lives if they walk in-”

 

But Jake obviously doesn’t seem to care, because he pushes Nate back into the couch even more and just  _ keeps on going. _

 

Fuck it. 

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on the [ tumblr ](http://villainousfilmmaker.tumblr.com)


End file.
